Shaman
This article is a description of the character class '''Shaman'. For a description of the role of shamans within the lore of Warcraft, see Shaman (lore). ''For related articles, see Category:Shamans. Overview The '''Shaman' class (for correct spelling and more for the word, see Shaman Spelling) is a secondary healer and support class http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/shaman.html. They are designed to supplement all parts of a party, while not being particularly focused on any one aspect of the game. Depending upon how one chooses to customize their character's talent points, they can specialize in offensive spellcasting, melee combat, or healing. Their primary support buffs come in the form of stationary totems, which (when placed on the ground by the shaman) provide various benefits to party members within a totem's 20-30 yard radius. The Shaman class is only available to three of the Horde races: Tauren, Orcs, and Trolls. They are the counterpart of the Paladin of the Alliance in the sense that they are not available to the opposing faction. * Note: In the Burning Crusade expansion, Alliance Draenei will be able to play Shaman. In parties, Shamans make the quintessential fifth member, supplementing the other members with off-healing and totem buffs while adding intermittent magic or melee damage. Shamans have the ability to resurrect themselves once per hour using their Reincarnation ability, which saves their party the time of running back in the case of a wipe. Combined with their ability to resurrect other players, this becomes a primary source of wipe control. Parties with Druid healers also benefit from the Shaman resurrection powers, as they can only resurrect other players once per 30 minutes. Melee-specialist Shamans are sometimes employed as off-tanks, capable of holding aggro on a same-level elite monster while healing themselves. In this role, they lack the survivability of Warriors or Paladins, but their high-threat spells do allow consistent aggro management. Talent trees The talent system in World of Warcraft allows Shamans extreme diversity in play style, ranging from melee fighting specialization to healing specialization. The Shaman class recieved a review to its abilities and talents in patch 1.11, effective June 20, 2006. Most changes focused on adjusting the mana cost of the Shaman's basic abilities http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-shaman&t=532462 . Elemental The Elemental tree focuses on the Shaman's spellcasting ability, in the form of offensive totems, spells, and 'shocks' (instant-cast spells of various elements). The major effect of this tree is to decrease the mana cost and casting time of offensive spells and totems while increasing their damage. The end-tree ability is Elemental Mastery, a spell usable every three minutes that guarantees a mana-free critical hit on the Shaman's next offensive spell. Elemental greatly improves the damage output of a shaman's magical offense, but its high mana cost (combined with the shaman's mana inefficiency) makes it inviable as a source of group/raiding PvE DPS. Enhancement The Enhancement tree focuses on the Shaman's ability to cast timed enchants on their own weapons, and expands on their melee ability in general as well. This is a very appealing tree to lower-level shamans because of the 5% mana increase, reduced cast time on their travel spell (Ghost Wolf, level 20, increases run speed by 40%), and the ability to wield two-handed weapons. At later levels, Enhancement specified Shamans can deal large amounts of melee damage, sometimes nearly approaching that of a Rogue, however this may only occur during short periods of time, over time an equally geared Rogue will do more damage than a shaman. The end-tree ability is Stormstrike, which grants an extra attack and increases the damage of the next two Nature spells on the target by 20%. Combined with other abilities to gain extra strikes, particularly Windfury Weapon, Stormstrike can be used to great effect. Enhancement greatly increases PvP survivability, while also offering PvE improvements for the shaman's primary melee buff totems. Restoration The Restoration tree focuses on the Shaman's healing capability, reducing the casting time and mana cost of healing spells and totems, while increasing their effectiveness. Shamans specced in Restoration are highly sought after in end-game parties, where they are quite useful as effective healers, buffers, and backup casters. The end-tree talent in the Restoration tree is the Mana Tide totem, which restores 140 mana every 3 seconds to party members within 20 yards. However, unlike the other two top level talents, higher ranked Mana Tide totem spells can be bought at a trainer at higher levels. Restoration greatly enhances shaman contribution to group/raid PvE content, but severely limits a shaman's damage output, and is undesirable for PvP activity. Equipment Shaman wear leather armor up until level 40, at which time they gain the ability to wear mail armor. Because of this, many shamans take up the leatherworking profession, which can make certain mail armor around the time they get the ability to wear it. Additionally, the Dragonscale Leatherworking specialization can make several mail armor items with stat bonuses that are very beneficial to the shaman class. Shaman can use one-handed maces with shields and staves by default, and can train daggers, fist weapons, and one-handed axes at a weapon master. In addition, by spending talents in the Enhancement tree, shamans can learn to wield two-handed axes and maces. After reaching level 40, a Shaman can learn to wear Mail armor from their trainer. For Shaman casters, the Turtle Scale Mail available from Leatherworkers is good, other items are better for melee Shamans. The Shaman's endgame sets are The Elements (Dungeon 1) and The Five Thunders (Dungeon 2) and the class-specific epic sets are The Earthfury (Tier 1), The Ten Storms (Tier 2), Stormcaller's Garb (Tier 2.5), and The Earthshatterer (Tier 3). The 20-man raid sets are Zandalar Augur's Regalia (Zul'Gurub) and Gift of the Gathering Storm (Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj). Currently these sets only benefit Shaman casters, as yet there are no dedicated Enhancement sets which directly benefit melee Shamans. As a result of this many Shamans use non-class-bound mail items which give melee critical strike bonuses, as well as attack power and agility bonuses. *'See:' Shaman Tactics = Races = thumb|A Troll Shaman Shaman is a Horde-only class until the release of the The Burning Crusade expansion'': * Horde ** Orc ** Tauren ** Troll * Alliance ** Draenei (Draenei are not playable until the release of the 'The Burning Crusade' expansion) [US] [EU (En)] =Attributes= See the main article Attributes. This breaks down specifically for shamans as follows http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-shaman&t=36420&tmp=1#post36420: *Your level's worth of agility will increase your chance to crit on a melee hit by about 3% (e.g., +60 agility will give a level 60 shaman +3% crit). *Your level's worth of agility will increase your chance to dodge (or parry if you have that talent) by about 1% (e.g., +60 agility will give a level 60 shaman +3% to dodge). *Every 7 strength provides 1 additional damage per second (e.g., +70 strength will give any shaman +10 DPS). *Every point of strength provides 2 melee attack power (e.g., +70 strentgth will give any shaman +140 AP). *Every point of strength increases the amount of damage you block with a sheild. *Every point of intellect adds 15 mana (MP). *Your level's worth of intellect will increase your chance to crit with spells by 1%. *Every point of stamina adds 10 health (HP). *Every 10 points of spirit regenerates 1 mana per second. This can also be described as "five spirit yeilds 1 mana per tick" or "2 spirit restores 1 mana per five seconds" (MP5). See also Formulas:Mana Regen *Every 18 spirit increases health regeneration by 1 health per second (i.e., 9 spirit restores 1 point of health per tick). =Abilities= Totems Totems are unique to the Shaman, and must be obtained by completing certain quests. A shaman can use one of each elemental type at any one time. Once a totem is put down, it cannot be moved - but a new totem can always be used to replace it if it requires the same Elemental Totem to cast it. *See the Shaman Totems page for complete list of totems, and additional details. Spells Shaman spells include direct damage spells, heals, and weapon buffs among others. Their spells are mostly based on the elements. *See the Shaman Spells page for a complete list of spells and additional details. *See Thottbot.com's Shaman page for more info on spells. Talents Shaman Talents are split into 3 categories: * Elemental - improvements in offensive spells and totems * Enhancement - improvements in mana pool and melee related skills and totems * Restoration - improvements in restoration of health and mana Talent builders can be found at Official Blizzard site, Panda Hideout, WoW Vault, ThottBot, Merciless. *See the shaman talents page for further details. Weapons Starting *Maces (1-handed) *Staves (2-handed) *Shields (off-hand) Trainable *Daggers (1-handed) *Fist Weapons (1-handed) *Axes (1-handed) Enhancements *Maces (2-handed) *Axes (2-handed) Can't Use *Swords (1-handed or 2-handed) *Offhand weapons (can still wield shields and off hand items) *Polearms *Ranged weapons (wands, bows, throwing weapons, crossbows, guns) '' Note: the inability of Shamans to use ranged weapons makes the Troll's Throwing Weapon Specialization and Bow Specialization racial traits worthless for them.'' * See also: Weapons & Armor * See also: Shaman Sets = End-Game Expectations = Totems are a major part of the end game and knowing what totems will benefit the Shamans group members best in different situations is all part of the strategy involved in playing a Shaman. Although the Shaman has very good burst DPS, it can be a challenge to acheive sustained DPS in a raid that is comparable to what an equally geared pure DPS class can achieve. As a result a Shaman will usally find themselves filling a Enhancing/Healing role in end game raids. Like a Warlock's soulstone, the Shaman's Reincarnation ability makes for quick wipe recovery. In most situations you play the same role as a Paladin which is to heal and buff your party. = See Also = *See Starting a Shaman for some advice when starting out. *See the Shaman FAQ for the answers to many common questions. *See Shamanism and Nature Worship to learn more about the shamans' beliefs. *Spirit to see how it changes your mana regeneration and what are your base values. *Enhancement Equivalency Points (EEP), a system to help you choose Enh Armor. Some good info at the official WoW forums: * Shaman FAQ 1.20 Category:Classes Category:Shamans Category:Orcs Category:Trolls Category:Tauren Category:Horde classes